Congrats to our 2025 PTA Award Winners!

Congratulations to our PTA Award Nominees and Winners! At Sacajawea, we are fortunate to have so many dedicated and amazing individuals who contribute their time and energy to make our school community thrive.

This year, we are thrilled to recognize seven exceptional people whose efforts have made a significant impact. We truly appreciate each and every one of you for your unwavering commitment and hard work. Let's celebrate their achievements and dedication to making Sacajawea a better place for all our children.

Golden Acorn Awards

Our Golden Acorn Awards recognize exemplary and outstanding volunteerism and service to our PTA, school and community.

Jane Demel (Eben’s Mom)

For the past three years, Jane has been our PTA Advocacy Lead and this year, it was a doozy!  When we learned that Sacajawea was on the recommended school closure list, Jane spearheaded the efforts against this by organizing rallies, inviting board members to tour our school and bringing the whole community together to fight against these recommendations. She spent countless hours attending meetings across the district and state to learn how to better fight against the closure. We’ll be open next year because of her efforts! 

This Spring, Jane pushed to get the word out about free lunch being available to all Sac students. Without her, our community would never have known. Her efforts are relentless, and they make a meaningful difference for the kids in our community.

In addition to advocacy, Jane is a friendly presence at all our events, she’s often the one in the know on our Facebook page and helps in the lunchroom when her schedule allows!

Stephanie Schroder (Lucas’ Mom)

Stephanie has been a reliable and consistent volunteer for our PTA for several years. She has quietly taken on more roles, making a huge positive impact for our community. Whether it is updating the reader board, running field day, hosting the walk & roll to school, helping on picture days, taking yearbook photos, or most recently co-leading the Move-a-thon.  Which was a blast! The classroom colors were genius!  She is super organized and knows all the fun things that the kids love.  

In addition, Stephanie is a Room Parent and has taken over writing our S.DOT grant (which funds the Safety Patrol, Walk to School event and provides safety books for the library).  She does all of this so efficiently; she makes it look effortless.  She has jumped in to help wherever she is needed and is a huge reason that stuff gets done!

Heather Platisha (Luca’s Mom)

As PTA co-chair for the last two years, Heather brought a thoughtful and approachable leadership style to the role. She's open to all ideas and discussions while being mindful of time.  Her ability to navigate these conversations while being productive and respectful has been really appreciated. Heather is always a friendly face at events and welcoming to new families to the school.  She can be counted on to be a Field Trip chaperone and has also been a Room Parent for many years, is taking on the task of helping to organize this year’s 5th Grade Graduation.  Heather SHINES and Sacajawea is lucky!

Outstanding Educator Award

This award recognizes a member of the staff who has made exceptional contributions at Sacajawea to enhance the educational outcomes of our students.

Susie Bunker (PE Teacher)

Ms. Susie - Is a Sacajawea Favorite!!!  She has brought such joy, positive energy, and empathy to teaching PE.  Her classes are well thought out and prepared. It’s clear how much she cares about the kids by the engaging and inclusive activities she arranges for students of different ages and abilities. She works hard to make sure everyone can participate and more importantly, she treats everyone with kindness and respect. 

Ms. Susie has also brought Athletic Skills Night to Sacajawea- a talent show for athleticism that was so popular this year, the gym was standing room only!! She is the Shining Star point person for the Upper Grades , she created and leads the Recess Crew - a huge leadership opportunity for our 3rd through 5th graders. With her help, the Crew put together sports equipment for each class room.  This year they held a bake and craft sale to raise money to buy and install a Buddy Bench on the playground.  

In addition, Susie coordinated the Seattle Storm assembly and secured a $5000 grant for PE equipment!!!  Plus, she arranged for every grade to go to the Kraken Community Complex for an ice skating field trip on four different days. This took a huge amount of time and coordination. She is amazing!

As a co-worker, Susie also SHINES.  She is a member of the BLT, she is a caring and supportive friend and a talented cook who shares her delicious treats with us when we need it most!

One nomination sums it up perfectly:

“Ms. Susie, You truly SHINE. You've taught our children safety with bike riding, roller skating, archery, and so many amazing activities! You help in endless ways throughout the school and pta events, You have had such a positive impact on our school. Our children, the staff, and our community absolutely adore you and see you SHINE every day.”

SHINE Award

The Roy Norman SHINE Award is given in honor of Ms. Norman’s (our Admin Secretary of many years) late husband. Roy was an amazing man who fully embodied the SHINE principles at Sacajawea of being Safe, Helpful, Inclusive, Neighborly, and Engaged!  Roy was an amazing man and the type of person who would jump in to help anyone, anywhere. He fully embodied the SHINE principles at Sacajawea of being Safe, Helpful, Inclusive, Neighborly and Engaged!

Becca Cahall (Wiley’s Mom)

Becca has been a behind-the-scenes force at Sacajawea for years, consistently stepping up to fill in whenever a need arises. Becca has helped with classroom activities, and volunteered at school events, been a Room Parent for many years, volunteers at all events and has been especially critical as a longtime member of the Equity team. With Equity she helps write newsletters, organizes events, and has been responsible for coordinating the entire BLM t-shirt contest and distribution. 

Becca is someone you can always turn to if you need support getting something done, and on top of all that is just a fantastic person!"

Karen Murphy (Leonie’s Mom)

Karen was a Golden Acorn recipient two years ago but there were so many nominations this year for the continued incredible volunteering she does, we had to acknowledge her for the SHINE award! Karen's long commitment to Sacajawea shines as she fills various roles and capacities within our community.

It's hard to know all that Karen does because she does so much as both staff and a volunteer. She puts in so much time and thought into her role as Family Support Coordinator that goes far beyond the slated hours for the job. She organizes the Arts and Science Fair, is on the Arts and Culture Committee, is our former PTA president, has been a Room Parent, event volunteer, field trip chaperone and so much more!  You can't have been at Sac for long without her energy having positively influenced your experience in some manner. Karen, your passion and dedication to the families at Sacajawea is unmatched.  

Rebekah Santiago

Ms. Rebekah is a sunny and caring presence in the lunchroom who makes everyone feel welcome and seen. She is a cheerleader for every student and takes the time to really connect with them. She also knows every child's allergies, aversions, likes and dislikes.  She slices apples for kids with braces, she warms up home lunches, cuts open Gogurts, all while keeping up with the cafeteria lines! As the kids shared, “Ms Rebekah is so kind and cooks such great food!”

She continually goes above and beyond to creatively come up with healthy meals (when deliveries go wrong or orders get delayed.) In the spring when Rebekah was alerted to the free lunch for all Sac students, she jumped into action.  She immediately ordered more food and supplies to be able to feed everyone. 

Rebekah also takes extra time to mentor kids who want to contribute. Every day a different classroom gets to help clean up the lunchroom, making them feel valued for their work on behalf of the community.  She also spends her own money to give out Hershey Kisses to all the helpers.

She is always smiling and her school spirit is unmatched on Sac spirit days she goes all out and the tradition is that she is the parade finale!  The kids roar when she crosses the stage.

Thank You Jane, Stephanie, Heather, Susie, Becca, Karen and Rebekah!  Our school is a better place because of all your efforts.

Membership Vote for 2025-2026 Budget and Executive Board

On June 11th, we’ll hold our annual Ice Cream Social at 5:30pm on the lower playground. This gathering will offer us a chance to mark the end of the school year and to celebrate our teachers and volunteers.

The event will also serve as our final membership meeting of the year, and we’ll conduct a voice vote to approve our proposed budget and executive board for 2025-2026.

Proposed Budget

We believe this proposed budget supports the educational experience of every student at our school and is a concrete representation of our PTA’s values of equity, collaboration, community-centricity, and transparency.

This year, we are proposing a budget of $102.0K, a 1.5% decrease from our current budget of $103.5K.

The largest areas of spending are:

• Staffing, $44.5K. This includes funding for our Reading Specialist ($20.5K), Hourly Staffing and Tutors ($8K), Volunteer Coordinator ($8K), Family Support Coordinator ($3K), and Kindergarten Jumpstart ($5K).

• Classroom Support, $18K. This includes funding for classroom supplies ($8K), teacher stipends and reimbursements ($10K).

• Family Support, $17K. This includes supplements and grocery cards for our Packs for Kids families ($10K) and scholarship funds for various programs throughout the year ($7K).

• Arts and Culture, $9.5K. This includes Teacher Appreciation ($5K), Field Trip Buses ($2.5K) and Equity Team ($2.5K).

To review the entire proposal, along with prior years’ budgets, please see our PTA Budget page.

Proposed Executive Board

The PTA’s nominating committee is excited to announce the following slate of members to become our executive board for the upcoming school year.

• Co-Chair: Tiffany Elliott

• Co-Chair: Amalia Poquiz Mayor

• Secretary: Jailanie Kaganovsky

• Treasurer: Cheryl Davis

At the event, we’ll hold two separate voice votes, one for the budget and one for the board.

If you have any questions or feedback, please email exec@sacpta.org.

Yearbook Orders

The Yearbook Store is closed but you may order directly from our supplier and have it shipped to your home.

Treering.com Passcode: 1017013593134739

Thank you: Educator Appreciation Week 2025

Sac families showed our appreciation for the school’s staff during educator appreciation week, May 8-12. Our staff puts so much energy and care into growing our kids. For one week, we got to reflect a tiny bit of that care back in their direction in the form of treats, games, and raffle gifts.

Treats

On Monday, staff were treated to breakfast scones and afternoon cookies. Wednesday brought a bagel breakfast spread with deluxe fixings. On Thursday, families provided a crowd-sourced feast that included pastries, fruit, quiche, eggs, hummus, bagels, cheesecakes, truffles, and so much more. A HUGE thank-you to everyone who contributed to turning the staff room into a delectable buffet.

Raffle

Each staff member received raffle tickets to be redeemed in one or more of the daily raffles. Raffle prizes included:

• Shoots & Roots bundle: A Swanson’s Nursery gift card & a cheery little plant and watering can.

• Ships & Chips bundle: Gift cards to Agua Verde Cafe & to the associated paddle club, with souvenir margarita glasses.

• Reels & Meals bundle: Gift cards to the Watershed Pub & two Regal Cinemas tickets, with souvenir Watershed pint glasses.

• Sips & Dips bundle: A gift basket stuffed with wine, crackers, spreads, olives, nuts, fruit, chocolate, and more.

Family Feud Game

Many of you will recall helping your student complete a 10-question survey about their daily lives at Sac. The PTA turned this into a Family-Feud style game in which staff competed to guess the most popular student responses to the questions.

We had a fierce competition with Miss EB taking first prize ($175), and a second-place tie between pre-K teacher Wendy Reed and principal Barry Fisk ($65 each).

The game questions and often-charming student responses are below, for anyone looking for a bit of kid whimsy to brighten the day.

Thank you again to everyone who helped to make this week happen, and to our beloved Sacajawea staff!

Julie Letchner

Educator Appreciaton Lead, 2025

Family Feud Questions & Answers

Q1: Name a hot lunch food that is popular at Sac.

“Pizza” was the overwhelming winner, followed by: burgers, chicken, pasta, and hot dogs.

Q2: Name something that kids do when they’re home sick from school.

The top answer was sleep/rest, followed by: video games, watch tv/movies, read, and a fifth-place tie between taking medicine and playing games. One kid responded, “whatever they want!”--good for you, kiddo!

Q3: Name an adult at Sac who isn’t your homeroom teacher.

Miss Susie (PE teacher) took the top slot, followed by Mr. Ryan, Ms. Walker, Mr. Reddecliffe, and Ms. Park. This one was fun to score because so many Sac staff were named by the students!

Q4: Name an object you have at your desk.

“Pencil” won overwhelmingly, followed by water bottle in a strong second. Third place was tied between pencil box and book, with thinking putty, crayons, and glue all tied for fifth place. 

Q5: Name something that happens at morning meeting.

The winner was morning work / seatwork, followed closely by sharing feelings / mood meter. Othe popular answers included sharing, job assignments, and variations on previewing the schedule.

Q6: Name a snack that’s fun to get at snack time.

Chips won commandingly, with fruit roll-ups or fruit leather coming in second. Popcorn / pirates booty, goldfish, fruit snacks/gummies, and rice krispy treats filled in the rest of the top hits.

Q7: Name something you might see in Sac’s lost & found.

A whopping 37 kids wrote in with an answer of coats/jackets, which is no surprise to anyone who’s scanned the playground lately. The remaining answers were: clothes/sweatshirts, water bottles, gloves, and books.

Q8: Name an activity kids do at recess.

Four square took the top prize, followed by the play structure, tag, soccer, and frisbee.

Bonus Question

We also asked the kids how old they think principal Fisk is, and turned that into a bonus question. The overall student answers were flatteringly young! But there was one kid who guessed 99, a solid handful who guessed 29, and one kid who wrote, “Pretty old, so probably like 13”. 

Thank you to all the families who helped us gather the data to make this game a success!

2025 Sacajawea PTA Award Nominations

Submitting Nominations

It’s fast and easy to make nominations for any (or all) of the awards. Just use the button below to get started!

Awards Details

Each spring, Sacajawea PTA seeks nominations for our Golden Acorn, Outstanding Educator and the Roy Norman S.H.I.N.E. Award.  These awards celebrate the people in our community who have gone above and beyond to make Sacajawea a wonderful place for our students and families.  Please submit your nomination by Friday, May 23rd.  Awardees will be announced at the Ice Cream Social on June 11th.

Golden Acorn Awards
Every year three deserving volunteers receive a Golden Acorn Award.  The Golden Acorn is a Washington State PTA award given by local PTAs recognizing exemplary and outstanding volunteerism and service to the PTA. Golden Acorn nominees should be active volunteers in PTA, our school and/or our Sacajawea community.

Outstanding Educator
This award is given to an individual (teacher, instructional assistant, staff member, administrator -- anyone on staff at school!) who has made significant contributions to our school and community and has helped to enhance the educational, social-emotional outcomes and well-being of our students.

Roy Norman SHINE Award
We are proud to continue the tradition of presenting the Roy Norman SHINE Award. Roy Norman is the late husband of Doreen Norman, Sacajawea’s Admin Secretary for over 20 years who retired in 2022. Roy was a fixture at Sacajawea Events and exemplified the SHINE values that are at the heart of our Sacajawea community (Safe, Helpful, Inclusive, Neighborly, Engaged). Nominees for this award will also have demonstrated SHINE values in how they have supported our school and community.

Please Submit your nomination online by Friday, May 23rd.

Thank you!

Sacajawea PTA Awards Committee
(Heather Platisha, Tiffany Elliott & Charlene Shanahan)